Page 38 of The Funnel to You

Vanilla and caramel blonde with oat milk

Social Post: Bold lipstick choices are as much of an attitude choice as they are an outfit choice. Be confident in what you choose, even if it’s outside of your normal. Black lipstick for me is one of my favorites to play with. It’s totally outside of my normal, but it’s a whole look for me and the finished look is always one I feel confident in. #sashaloveslipstick #graphicliner #boldlipstick #cosplay #blacklipstick #partyreads

Image description: Lipstick bag opened up on my makeup counter with the black lipstick open next to my coffee mug.

I’m pressed up against Matt’s front door looking down at him. The look in his eyes is one of admiration and hunger. This man wants me. And I want him too. I was hoping this was going to be as much for him as it was for me today when I got dressed. It’s sexy and way outside of my normal, but this corset does wonderful things for my boobs and the heels just accentuate my legs in the best way. And apparently, Matt noticed all of that when I walked into his house just a few minutes ago.

He lowers his lips to where my neck meets my shoulders and I can feel him breathing me in. His lips follow just a moment later as he kisses that place that makes me shiver. One of his hands is holding my hip to him and the other is bracing his weight on the door behind my head. My legs are wrapped around him, and I can feel how hard he is through his jeans. I should have shown up sooner than ten minutes before everyone else is going to get here.

I tilt my head back as he continues his exploration around my neck, shoulders, and collarbone.

“I thought you wanted to try to mess up my lipstick.” I prompt him while trying to press my body further against his. I am needy and I know it.

“I had a better idea.” He says as he nips at my shoulder and I arch into his touch further.

“What’s that?”

Someone knocks on the door and I groan. He looks at me as he slowly lowers me down and helps me fix my skirt.

“I’ll mess it up tonight when we are alone.” He whispers in my ear and then he unlocks the door like I’m not a total pile of goo standing next to him.

While he lets the guests inside, I sneak down to his room to drop off my purse and my other bag. I was hoping I wasn’t being presumptuous when I packed an overnight bag. If nothing else, I can change into something else after the party and I for sure am going to want to take this makeup off. It’s not full costume makeup, but it’s definitely heavier than I am used to and I don’t like wearing makeup when it feels like I’m wearing makeup. I can see my eyelashes. That’s not normal. Falsies are great, but they mess with my depth perception so I don’t wear them often. I’m good with just good mascara.

When I come back to the main room, everyone has arrived for the most part so I head over to help get the rest of the snacks out of the fridge. It’s not even 7:30 and we are planning to be wrapped up by ten at the latest. Most of us have tomorrow off from work, but late nights are not our thing. Several of us have other plans for later I think, at least I hope we have plans for later.

By eight, everyone is here and having a good time and pretty much everyone has settled in. Kylie and Carter are dressed as Princess Kate and Prince William – in casual clothes because Carter “didn’t want to rent anything special for one night.” Fair. Tilly and Ashley are dressed as Influencer Barbie and Makeup Barbie and it’s honestly pretty amazing. Both of those girls pull off the Barbie pink lipstick really well! Matt’s friends are in superhero tees like Matt is so they look like they probably planned that. Nothing too fancy, but it works well.

There’s another bartender from the restaurant and then Tilly’s roommate from college too. It rounds out to be a pretty good group with everyone being between nineteen and twenty-eight. Not too bad. At least we all get most of the same pop culture references. It seems like Matt and his friends are very big superhero geeks and they have each made a few comments tonight that the rest of us don’t get. Note to self – find some sort of “Superheros for the Struggling Girlfriend” book. Is that a thing? It should be a thing! He’s learned makeup and skincare for me so I should try to figure some of this out. The reaction from him when he saw me in my costume was pretty exciting. What would he say if I actually picked up on some of the references in the next Marvel movie?

Carter and Max (the other bartender) are having fun getting creative with the limited amount of mixers and liquor available. They’ve been sharing a few specialty drink recipes with Luca and Johnathan for them to try on their next time out. I’ve challenged them to find me a few more coffee recipes to play with. I may be slightly obsessed but having fun drinks like that at the spa nights are always a huge hit. And I can only have so many cranberry orange concoctions before I want to try something different.

I was definitely nervous about meeting Matt’s friends, but they’ve been great. Luca is quiet like Matt is, but Jonathan pulls them out of their shells a bit more. All together, it’s going pretty well. And we are taking turns at the door passing out candy.

“I am honestly surprised at how many kids we have had come here tonight.” I tell Matt when I finish with the group of Ninja Turtles at the front door. It’s been a new group about every ten minutes since 7:30.

“Yeah, a couple of years ago I met with a bunch of the other neighborhood homeowners and we planned a few events for the kids on the block throughout the year. Halloween became another one of those nights and now a lot of the kids bring their friends. It’s a quiet street and most of us know each other so parents feel safe and the kids recognize us so it helps with the younger ones not being nervous.” Matt lets us know as he refills the bowl with the chocolate mix.

“So even though you weren’t a parent, you jumped in?” Carter asks. He seems unsure, which is super weird. It’s a sweet gesture. I give him a look and notice that Kylie is doing the same.

Matt makes eye contact with him before he answers Carter, again, weird.

“Yes sir.” Oh we are getting serious Matt, I like this. “My sister and I had that growing up and it was important to me to be one of the adults that kids and parents could rely on if needed. And when the time comes that I have kids in this neighborhood, or wherever that may be, I want to be able to have that same relationship with those here. I can’t expect them to treat my kids well in five years if I am not doing the same today.”

And, mic drop. Okay, I probably need to be done with the drinks. I’ve only had two, but that’s more than my normal and I’m getting snarky. It may just be in my head, but if I’m not careful, it’s going to come out. I stand up to go grab a water bottle while Kylie continues the conversation.

“So, you’ve thought about having kids?” She prompts him.

“I think most of us in this age group have, haven’t we? I’m not in a huge rush, but I’d like to be a dad someday. Again, I had a great childhood and would like to have the chance to be a dad.” He makes eye contact with me during that last bit and I slowly smile at him. Is he thinking about having kids with me? We barely started dating. We haven’t even fully slept together yet. I don’t hate the idea though. His eyes on a mini-Matt? Sign me up! And with the smirk he is giving me, he heard my thoughts loud and clear.

“I haven’t thought about kids. I enjoy the flexibility of my job and being able to choose when we go do a weekend away. Adding kids into the mix is going to create a whole new set of challenges.” Carter remarks as he sips his drink. Kylie is quiet and stands to come next to me to grab a water too.

“So, are you not wanting kids ever or just not right now?” Ashley asks him. Her and Kylie have gotten close recently and I think she’s picking up on Kylie’s mood shift with the current conversation.

“Not right now, for sure, maybe never. I’m not sure. I’m not thirty yet, not married, and don’t want to add that into where we are in life right now. You’re with me on that, right Kylie?” Oh good, he does remember his girlfriend standing here.

She nods her head slowly in agreement and I make a mental note to check with her on that later. We have talked about kids before and we were both in the “after we are married for at least a year” category, but this reaction from her tells me she might have changed her mind and I don’t know what I’ve missed.

And with that, the doorbell rings again.

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